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The Ford Focus Electric was certified by the EPA to get 105 mpg-e Photo by Ford

Ford Focus EV certified at 105 mpg-e by EPA

March 1, 2012

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The Ford Focus electric is officially the country's most fuel-efficient five-passenger car. The Environmental Protection Agency certified the vehicle at 105 miles per gallon-equivalent (mpg-e) in the combined cycle of city and highway driving.

Mpg-e is how the government measures the efficiency of alternative-fuel vehicles. One gallon of gasoline provides 144,000 BTU. MPG-e measures how much electricity, hydrogen or natural gas it takes to make the same amount of energy. There are issues with the calculation, which can be explored here.

Ford says the Focus EV can be charged in four hours using 240-volt outlets installed in customer garages. It can also get 20 miles of range on just one hour of charging. Ford makes this possible by installing a bigger on-board charger than its competitors, at 6.6 kilowatt-hours.

That makes a day of busy driving a bit less stressful, especially when stopping at a place with an exterior charger, which is becoming more common.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of charging stations in the United States has risen dramatically in the last 10 years, from 750 to 5,507 chargers nationwide.

The EPA label also certifies that the Focus electric can go 76 miles on a single charge. Ford says if drivers go easy on the accelerator pedal, it could go even further. According to the EPA, the Focus Electric could save the average driver $9,700 over the course of five years and maybe more, if gasoline prices continue to rise.

Ford says the Focus is the flagship of its new, fuel-efficient lineup that will soon include the Fusion, Taurus, Edge and Explorer EcoBoost, the Fusion hybrids, the Fiesta and the F-150.

The Focus electric is built at Ford's assembly plant in Wayne, Mich., and will be available in 19 markets by the end of this year.